Gold Digger
by Spaced-out Luna
Summary: Set during the TV series; a full-burn leaves Serenity with a fuel leak. The crew travels to Cheyenne, a Central Planet famous for its mining industry, to refuel. Taking a few extra rocks back with them couldn't hurt, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I'm trying to keep everything as cannon as possible, _please_ let me know if anyone is OOC. Rated T because I'm paranoid; it's probably not that bad. As always, feedback is loved.

**Chapter 1**

There was something about a ship hanging useless against a black backdrop that made the silence in space seem even more silent. But, then again, looks can be deceiving. The ship wasn't useless, unlike the pitiful craft it had just slunk away from a few hours before, taking all valuables and leaving barely anything more than the steel frame. The usual shindig.

The silence inside _Serenity_ was broken by a clanging of metal against metal sound from the engine room. It was far from unusual for Kaylee to be awake, working on fixing one of her ship's many broken parts while everyone else was asleep. What made this particular instance unusual was that River, with a far-away look in her eyes, was slowly making her way down the hallways, as quiet as the space just outside _Serenity's_ frame.

That was, until she stopped outside the engine room and whispered, "She's bleeding."

Kaylee jumped at the sound of a voice behind her, letting her wrench she was working with fall to the ground.

"River!" Kaylee stood up and looked out into the hallway to see if anyone else had noticed River's insomnia, "What are you doin' out and about _Serenity _at this ungodly hour?" As if she expected a response that made sense to a human with a brain that hadn't been tempered with.

"The smallest slit left unattended... she'll bleed to death." River tilted her head as she continued talking to Kaylee, even with her back turned.

"Kaylee, everything okay in there?" The Captain had emerged from his cabin, having been woken when Kaylee dropped her wrench. Malcom was already blinking in the light, but had to blink a few more times when he saw River, "What's goin' on?"

"You'll drown her," River said in response before Kaylee could reply.

"She just came saunterin' down here, Cap'n," Kaylee explained, "She's been spoutin' this nonsense about someone bleedin' to death..."

Kaylee was cut off when the ship shook underneath them and threw her off balance. She and the Captain exchanged a glance, while River walked into the engine room and stopped in front of the steadily turning engine.

"She'll take us down with her."

* * *

The one thing about having crew quarters right next to each other in one hallway, was that it doesn't take long for news to travel. It didn't take long for the entire crew (excluding Wash, who was busy landing _Serenity_) to gather in the dining room and they wasted no time on voicing their opinions.

"A Central Planet? Didn't we have some intricate plan about how we was going to avoid those after playin' vulture?" Jayne said, spinning his knife casually on the table.

"Cheyenne is on the very edge of the Alliance's control," Zoe explained in her monotone voice, "If we lay low, we should be able to refuel and make a clean getaway."

"Do we know what started the fuel leak?" Simon was smart to keep his eyes flitting around the table, although everyone (save Kaylee) knew he was looking for Kaylee's answer.

"Apparently the ship we salvaged had a security system that alerted the Alliance after the Cap'n and Zoe melted the door," Kaylee answered in a low voice, her eyes cast downward at the table, "We went to full burn. I knew it would be too much for her..." Kaylee trailed off, becoming emotional, as usual, when something happened to her ship.

"Well, all that don't matter now," Mal decided to stop the conversation before it turned into a debate, "We need to refuel, there's no question about that. Plus, Cheyenne's a pretty famous mining planet. We might be able to pick up somethin' extra on our way out. And, as Inara has pointed out many times, there are many more potential, _wealthy_ clients on the Central Planets." While Mal's plan was originally to prevent an argument, he couldn't resist singling Inara out.

Before Inara could bite back a retort, Wash's voice came over the intercom, "Inara, we've hit atmo, ready for shuttle departure."

"Try not to kill each other while I'm gone." Inara turned away from the Captain and strode down the hall to her shuttle.

"No promises." Came Jayne's muffled reply, as he used the tip of his knife to floss his teeth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

There was a steady cranking sound as the airlock opened to reveal the barren landscape of Cheyenne. At least, it would be barren, if it weren't for the many mine shafts, drills, and people scattered around. If Malcom hadn't known Cheyenne was a Central Planet, he would have sworn it was a moon on the edge of the solar system.

"You see, Jayne?" Malcom said as he walked out onto the rocky surface of the planet, "Not an Alliance patrol in sight."

"Besides the ones over there, Sir?" Zoe nodded towards one of the many drills where, sure enough, stood two men in Alliance uniforms.

"Well... yes, besides those," Malcom's hand instinctively rested over his gun in the holster, "That's just more reason to fuel up as fast as we can, and get off this rock before the Alliance can smell us."

"Hey, look, Cap'n, shiny!" Kaylee stopped walking and stood by a cartload of gemstones, looking almost as catatonic as River.

"Right then... while Wash is workin' on refuelin' _Serenity _with the Shepherd, Zoe and I'll work on getting past those Alliance guards. The rest of you, try not to make a scene." Mal looked directly at Simon and River before tossing a bag of coins to Wash and heading off with Zoe and Jayne.

"One of these stones could buy _Serenity _a whole new engine!" Kaylee gave no indication that she heard anything the Captain said, she seemed so entranced by the crystals.

"'All that glitters', Kaylee," Simon said, taking her hand and leading her away from the cart, "We need to make sure that the Alliance doesn't see River or..." Simon trailed off, "Where's River?"

* * *

"Jayne, I don't think bringing Vira with you will help us keep a low profile."

"What if we get into a fight over why we're housin' the doctor and his crazy sister? Or why we're carryin' stolen cargo from an Alliance ship? Or..."

"Point taken, Jayne." Zoe cut Jayne off in a low voice as they passed the two guards by the drill.

Ahead of them was a small village, old-looking and broken-down just like most of the other villages they had visited on the Outer Planets. Inside the town, Mal knew there was a vault, containing some of the industry's most prized rocks. Take those, plus any the rest of the crew could manage to nick from the carts of gems out in the open, and they'd be eating like the ambassador himself for months.

"It only takes a few hours to fuel _Serenity_," Mal continued once they were out of earshot of the guards, "That means we should plan for our job to take longer, so we can leave orbit with a full tank."

"Do we have a plan, Sir?" Zoe asked, eying the hidden Vira.

"'Don't get caught'?" Jayne suggested.

"I honestly hadn't thought this far ahead." Mal said defensively.

"Why don't we just walk in, show Vira around, take the gorram rocks and walk out?" Jayne asked in a sort of whisper-yell.

"That _was_ the plan, until the Alliance showed up and made things a mite more complicated."

"Sir," Zoe cut into the argument, "There are only two of them. If we can cause a diversion for long enough, we'll have a chance at getting the goods before anyone notices us."

"Fair enough," Mal started, a plan already forming in his head, "But where do you reckon we could find a..."

Mal tailed off when he noticed Simon and Kaylee making a beeline straight for him.

"Cap'n..." Kaylee started, trying to catch her breath.

"I thought you all were busy admiring those stones by the shafts." Mal interrupted before Kaylee could finish, "And where did you leave..."

Simon cut Mal off, "River's gone."

* * *

"Welcome, to my humble abode."

Inara smiled, finding it difficult to keep a straight face, looking at her client's manor amidst the squalor all around it. But her first lesson as a companion was how to smile politely, and convincingly.

"It's quite lovely." Inara agreed in a level tone. Although she never thought of her work as about the money, she found the civilized clients were usually the more wealthy. It was plain to see that David was no exception.

"Although, I would much prefer we hold our arrangement in my shuttle, standard companion policy." Inara added in as much of an apologetic tone as she could muster.

"Of course," David responded with a melodramatic sweeping gesture, "But I insist on a tour of my manor before we begin."

For once, Inara had no idea what to say, so, she simply let him take her hand and lead her into the manor. It was probably very lavishly decorated, and Inara was sure she could see all of it. But since she was trained not to have any physical reaction, she found eliminating the reaction was like eliminating the thing itself. So, Inara allowed herself to be led down the hallway, smiling and nodding as David pointed various objects out to her.

Maybe it was because Inara was traveling with criminals, but the thing she _did_ notice was the vault at the end of the hallway. Once more, Inara found herself speechless, although her smile did fade into slightly parted lips. She couldn't ask David what was inside, could she? That would appear suspicious. But why should she be worried about that? Inara closed her eyes and shook her head ever so slightly to clear it. She must be slipping. She reminded herself she was here to do her job, what the rest of the crew did was completely different.

Inara focused her attention back on David, who had let go of her hand and was walking towards the vault. "Don't you want to see how I'm going to pay you?" He said with a sly smile.

Inara didn't have to worry about a response, because David had turned to punch in the combination for the vault. Inara couldn't help but notice the code; _5, 1, 6, 2_. Not the most creative of codes, but who could blame her for being observant? That was what she was trained to do.

The vault swung open, revealing the smallest of gems suspended on a very grand stand. Inara bit her tongue to keep from laughing at the sight, such a large vault and such a little, unimpressive gem. "My father's the head of Cheyenne's mining industry. He keeps this gem here for show, the _real_ beauties are in town, in a much more protected vault," David said in a slightly boastful tone, "Although he's away most of the time, his occupation has its benefits."

"I'd assume it would," Inara replied, relieved to revert back to her polite smile, "Everything you've shown me was beautiful."

David smiled haughtily, and his straight posture as he walked back towards Inara seemed almost condescending. "Only the best," His tone changed as he put his hand around Inara's waist, "Now let's see that shuttle of yours."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I'm so sorry, Cap'n." Kaylee said after Simon had summarized the occurrence in less than twenty words. She had gone into her shock mode, like she normally would when any of the crew members got hurt. Kaylee wasn't even in her right mind to admire the cute sense of worry in the doctor's voice, "I shoulda known not to get distracted like that, especially after I let _Serenity_ down..."

As much as Simon worried about River, he knew he couldn't let Kaylee blame herself, "It's not your fault, Kaylee." He said softly.

"You do realize you and your sister are known fugitives with more money than I could ever hope to make in my life as a reward for your capture?" Malcom started in a low tone of voice, his anger barely audible through the sounds of the miners outside the city, "You do know how suspicious it must have appeared to those Alliance guards back there when a known fugitive ran right in front of them? And you do know what will happen if they find your sister alone, just waitin' to be captured?"

"Well, whinin' about it ain't gonna solve nothin'." Jayne cut in, being the insensitive one, "Here's our chance, Mal. Have them Alliance folk go search for their bounty, while we get away with the goods."

"And what about River?" Simon wasn't normally the one to challenge the crew, especially Jayne; unless it involved his sister, "We can't just let the Alliance capture her in exchange for your pay."

Malcom cut in before Jayne could answer the doctor's last remark, "Jayne, if the Alliance figures out River's on this rock, we'll have a few more obstacles than just two guards."

"Well, we don't hafta tell them it's River." Kaylee put in, "She can take care of herself until we find her, and the Alliance will be on a wild goose chase."

"It's a good plan, sir." Zoe agreed plainly.

"Could be because it's the only one we got." Malcom said none to brightly, "Jayne, get our supplies ready to overtake any guards that may be near the vault. Kaylee, after you explain to those Alliance low-lives that a girl's gone missin', take the doctor and go find her before they do."

"Now hold on a second." Simon stopped the Captain before he could put his plan into action, "This is still River we're talking about, her condition is unstable."

Malcom didn't bother facing Simon as he and Zoe walked away, "You come up with a better plan, feel free to let me know."

* * *

Inara didn't know what she had expected; after all, how many trained companions could have stopped on Cheyenne in the past few years? But she knew she hadn't expected David to pass out in the first few minutes they had been in the shuttle.

He had seemed a little sensitive to the sudden change in temperature, or maybe the incense had been too strong. But here was certainly one thing Inara found herself wishing she had been taught at the academy.

She had given the standard companion medical packs to Simon when he first came aboard _Serenity_, but that was only because Inara hadn't thought she'd actually need them. Then again, it would be pretty hard to treat David when Inara had no idea what was wrong.

After a few minutes of contemplating her options; staying calm and analyzing these things was one thing Inara had been taught on _Serenity_, Inara opened the door of her shuttle and stepped outside into the cooler air. She could find Simon, or ask around in the town for a doctor, or at least someone who knew David to see if he had any medical conditions that he had failed to mention on the legal papers.

While the companion made her way past David's rather lavish home, she stopped almost subconsciously at the sight of the door. David had apparently failed to close it as Inara had led him out of the house; besides, Cheyenne was probably one of those small towns where everyone knew everyone else. Who would suspect...

Before she knew it, Inara was walking toward the open door, her hand reaching towards the polished gold knob.

* * *

"She- she disappeared... um, over here!" Kaylee had led the two Alliance guards well past the cave where she had lost River, and in the opposite direction of the town where the vault was.

"Don't worry miss, we'll find her." One of the Alliance guards nodded professionally to Kaylee. Once both guards had faded into the mouth of the cave, Kaylee turned and ran back to the tunnels where she had left Simon.

"They've gone, let's go find River."

The couple was silent as they entered the cave, save for the occasional soft calls of River's name.

"She probably thinks it's a game." Simon said finally; it was becoming so dark he could barely see Kaylee's face, "Even from the statistics I could gather on Ariel, she's so unpredictable..."

In the darkness, Kaylee found Simon's hand, "You worry to much about her, doc." She couldn't help but smile, despite their predicament, "Besides, she has you to take care of her." Kaylee added with a softer tone. She couldn't help but get her hopes up; no one was there to interrupt her now, anyway.

Simon, however, being as clueless as he was, didn't notice the change in Kaylee's tone, "I know, but sometimes..." He started to protest, before stopping in his tracks at a corner, "Didn't we pass this stalagmite already?"

"Did we? I hadn't noticed..." It took Kaylee a while to pull herself out of her fantasy. "Wait, I think you're right."

"We must have taken the wrong turn at that last fork..." Simon tried to recall the last path they had taken. How long had they been in the tunnels again?

Kaylee's eyes widened as the reality of her confusion hit her. "Simon, I... I think we're lost."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N-** If anyone would be so kind as to help me with a question; is "Browncoat" (the resistance against the Alliance) one word or two words? And is it capitalized?

**Chapter 4**

Even though the loud voices from inside the saloon obscured any noise coming from outside, the three Browncoats took care to step lightly as they moved closer to the door.

Malcom held up three fingers; two; one.

The team burst through the door, each clutching a weapon and showing it around the room. "Everyone on the floor!" Jayne followed Malcom's order with one warning shot next to the bartender's head. The shot was followed by the sound of smashing glass and then an alarm.

"Oops." Jayne's eyes flickered around the room as Malcom cursed under his breath in Chinese.

"Sir; we have five minutes tops before the Alliance shows up." Zoe cut in as Mal moved to the vault. "If we abandon the job now we can get off this rock before..."

"All the more reason to get these stones out of the vault even faster." Malcom cut Zoe off and motioned with his gun for the bartender to open the vault.

Jayne stepped forward eagerly with Vira before the vault was even open to gather the gems, when the painfully familiar _clicking_ sound of a gun reloading came from the door of the saloon.

There, an Alliance guard stood, with his gun pointed directly at Malcom's head.

* * *

Simon and Kaylee sat at the last fork in the tunnels that looked familiar to the both of them. They had reasoned that venturing further underground would only lessen their chances of getting out.

"I should have protected her better." Simon started the same monologue for the twenty-seventh time since they'd been in the tunnels. "If only I hadn't let River out of my sight. I shouldn't have let Jayne convince the Captain to use her as bait..."

"Worryin' about it isn't gonna bring us any closer to findin' her." _Or getting out of these gorram tunnels._ Kaylee added to herself.

"There's nothin' else we can do but wait. Besides," Kaylee rested her head on Simon's shoulder, "If I get hurt I got you to cure me."

"That would be a lot easier with my med kit." Simon said in a slightly annoyed tone, completely oblivious to Kaylee's attempt at a compliment.

_Can I __be__ any more obvious?_ Kaylee thought to herself. The doctor's normal cluelessness that she normally found cute was starting to really annoy her.

"Well, it ain't all bad..." Kaylee tried again; looking on the bright side of a situation, as normal.

"Yeah, my sister's running loose on a Central Planet, acting as bait for Alliance officials while we're stuck God knows how many feet underground, and the rest of the crew robs a vault." It was pretty obvious the situation was starting to get to Simon.

"Well sure... but, I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather be lost with." Kaylee could almost see the gears finally turning in Simon's head. Even in the almost pitch-black dark, she could sense his head inching closer toward hers.

Then they both jumped when a call came from the path to their right, "Hello? Is anybody down there?"

Kaylee only had time to mutter a short string of Chinese curses under her breath before the realization that one of the Alliance officials had found them washed over her. Then she remembered Simon was standing right next to her.

"I'll go up ahead; you stay out of sight." Kaylee whispered to Simon, before following the Alliance guard's voice up the right path.

* * *

"You know, the Alliance sent out a bulletin just this morning that said we should be on the lookout for some Browncoats who looted an Alliance vessel." The guard stepped forward into the saloon while Mal, Zoe, and Jayne holstered their guns and held up their hands.

Malcom's brain was already planning an escape route, when he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Turning slowly to the front door, he saw River, her blue dress twirling in the wind, stepping toward the Alliance guard with a large crystal in her hand. Mal worked to keep a straight face, and attempted a motion with his head to tell River to run the other direction. The girl obviously didn't notice.

Then River raised the stone, and smashed it over the guard's head.

Her wide eyes followed the guard to the floor, then looked back up at the Captain and the dazed citizens on the floor of the saloon.

"A transparent crystal of tetrahedrally bonded carbon atoms that crystallizes into the diamond lattice which is a variation of the face centered cubic structure."* And then after a pause. "I never liked diamonds."

_*- Quoted directly from the Wikipedia page on diamonds; I could never come up with that._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"I thought I told you to stay put, miss." There was no mistaking the blue uniform of the Alliance guards, even though Kaylee's eyes were still adjusting to the sudden light, "I apologize for not being able to find your friend, but an alarm went off in the saloon, and the only other guard on Cheyenne isn't answering his radio."

"Mal," Kaylee couldn't help but whisper. Should she stall the guard to give the captain more time, or use it as a diversion to get Simon back to the ship? The guard's radio crackled with static, but Kaylee could make out faint bits of a sentence being said, "Situation... neutralized. Minimal casualties at the... Report to saloon... doctor needed... at fueling station..."

"I... of course. She's probably already gone back to the..." Kaylee didn't get a chance to finish her sentence; as the Alliance guard had already turned and started running for the town.

Kaylee squinted in the light and waited a few seconds, pondering the last part of the message, before turning to the cave entrance, "Simon," She helped the doctor steady himself before continuing, "I think I know where to find River."

* * *

River's first question once they reached the fueling station was, "Where's Simon?"

Malcom didn't have time to respond as he jogged up the ramp and hit a button to radio the bridge, "Wash, do we have power yet?"

"Just about, Captain." Came the pilot's cheery reply, "I think you'll be surprised when I tell you that Sheppard Book..."

"Never mind about the preacher, Wash." Malcom cut in impatiently, "We need to get Inara back here now, and get in the air as fast as we can."

"One moment..." Wash paused to locate Inara's shuttle, "She's still in the town; we could be interrupting something important."

Mal didn't have the time, and, frankly, didn't want to be reminded of what Inara was in the middle of, "Just call her back." He switched off the radio and walked briskly down the ramp to confer with Zoe.

"Sir, we can go back to the mining shafts to see if Kaylee and Simon have found their way back yet."

"And if they're not there?" Malcom answered tensely.

After a pause, Zoe replied, "We'll have a better chance of seeing them if we go now."

The Captain answered by drawing his gun and stalking off back to town, his coat billowing behind him in the wind.

* * *

"Easy flying, Captain. No one's following us."

Malcom clicked off the speaker in the dining room and sat back down on the head of the table. There was a drawn-out silence, until Jayne slammed his cup down on the table after a swig.

"So whatever happened to the gorram rocks? I was of a mind that I would be gettin' paid my fair share this month."

"A better question would be how did we manage to get away in time after an encounter like that." Zoe answered with slight surprise.

"River, whatever happened with your rock you used to knock out the Alliance man?" Simon had been following the story closely ever since he and Kaylee had boarded the ship.

"I gave it back to him." River answered, staring off into space.

"You fixed the fuel leak up nicely, Sheppard." Kaylee interrupted the conversation with her compliment, "Where'd you learn to do somethin' like that?"

"I believe it was the same place I learned to send out mock Alliance signals through two-way radios." Sheppard Book said with a sly smile.

Kaylee and Simon exchanged a look, but said nothing.

Seizing the opportunity, Jayne cut in to point out the downside, "Those repairs must've cost ya somethin', preacher." He took a quick drink from his cup, "Where d'you suppose we're gettin' the money for that?"

Malcom couldn't resist, "I bet Inara's sufferin' from our failure, too. After all, didn't your client pay for a _full_ session?"

"Our appointment was canceled due to... unfortunate circumstances." Inara kept a straight face, but there was a glint in her eye as she pulled out something from under the table, "However, not all was lost."

She opened her palm and produced the small stone that had been in the vault of her client's house. Inara thought twice about giving it to Malcom; after all, it was companion policy not to steal, but technically the crystal was rightfully hers, since David had never officially canceled.

If the Captain was surprised, he must have had a hard time hiding it. He glanced around the table, and for the first time really looked at his crew; taking in all the emotions radiating from each person, the tensions, the arguments getting ready to burst at the seams.

He got up slowly, walked to the other side of the table and stood by Inara, and picked up the crystal. After turning it over in his hand a few times, he pocketed it.

"We'll get by."


End file.
